Essay On Mantras

Mantras have influenced thinking about meditation for a long time. That's not surprising: mantras are a time tested tool, helping people grow spiritually for thousands of years.

But given the broad ignorance in the West about mantras and the wide variety of ways mantras are approached by meditation teachers, novice meditators (and some veterans, too!) will confront a confusing mix of information about how to use them in their own meditation practice.

There are three main ways to think about mantras, and how they work:

1) Energetic - in this view, the actual sound of the mantra resonates in some way with the spiritual energy of the universe and our subtle bodies. The effect of such resonance is largely independent of the meditator's understanding

In this view, Mantra may be revelatory (as with the first) or they can be drawn from spiritual tradition. In either case, the meditator needs to be mentally engaged in the effort to reach for the supramundane.

3) Mechanical/psychological - in this view, there is no preternatural context within which mantra reside. The impact of any repeated word or sound is simply to promote a particular psycholgical effect; usually, this effect is one of relaxation. The Relaxation Response is a good example of this mechanistic view.

So the answer to the question, "are there special mantra for meditation?" very much depends on which model you subscribe to. If you are in the mechanistic camp (the third model listed), the answer is a clear "no". Any sound may be used as a point of focus, and will produce the calm state of mind which has so many positive effects.

From the first perspective, the answer is similarly clear, though directly opposing: there are very specific, non-arbitrary, sounds which have an effect on the world through their own power. If you want to use mantras for meditation, you need to learn these specific sounds; you may even need to be initiated into the use of your particular